Will a pregnancy test come out negative if its a ectopic pregnancy?

Hi vicky1,

Thank you for an interesting question.


Medline Plus - Ectopic Pregnancy
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000895.htm

Signs and tests    

"There is usually a positive pregnancy test." 

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How Is Ectopic Pregnancy Diagnosed?
http://yourmedicalsource.com/library/ectopicpreg/EP_diagnosis.html

"If you show up at a doctor's office with irregular or missed periods,
or at an emergency room with pelvic pain, the first test a doctor will
perform is a urine test for pregnancy.

A negative pregnancy test will exclude ectopic pregnancy. 

A positive pregnancy test will establish the presence of a pregnancy
but not its location."

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ECTOPIC PREGNANCY - a patient's guide
http://www.medic8.com/healthguide/articles/ectopicpreg.html

"If you are know you are pregnant, and experience abdominal pain or
vaginal bleeding, you should notify your doctor immediately.
Furthermore, any sexually active woman of childbearing age who
develops abdominal pain and/or vaginal bleeding should be given a
pregnancy test (even if she has had a tubal ligation or is using an
IUD) to rule out ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage. (Pregnancy tests
are so accurate nowadays that a pregnant woman is extremely unlikely
to have a negative test result)."

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EM guidemap - Ectopic pregnancy
http://emguidemaps.homestead.com/files/ectopic.htm

Diagnostic testing -Serum or urine HCG 

"(* dilute urine may result in a false negative urine pregnancy test
=> use 20 drops of urine, instead of 5 drops of urine, when performing
the test)"

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Best regards,
tlspiegel

The person who answered this question should have just said YES...an
ectopic pregnancy can show up positive since its still a
pregnancy...thus the mother produces human Chorionic Gonadotropin
regarless of whether its a regular pregnancy or ectopic. 
Nevertheless, inherent to all test, you can have FALSE POSITIVES and
FALSE NEGATIVES...meaning FP: Test is positive for pregnancy but
female is not actually pregnant or FN: Test is negative for pregnancy
but is actually pregnant....these scenarios can occur in both ectopic
and regular pregnancy at equal (yet low) frequencies in the
population.  Either way one should always consult a physician.

Student MD

I concur.  The person should have just said yes.  Here is additional
information about having an ectopic pregnancy:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/ectopicpregnancy.html

Ectopic pregnancies will generate pregnancy symptoms similar to a
normal pregnancy.  One of the biggest differences is sharp pain on one
side.